Individual paper towels are frequently dispensed from a stack of interfolded or C-fold paper towels. The paper towels can have a single-fold or multifold construction. A single-fold paper towel is formed from a rectangular sheet which has one fold line extending generally parallel to the two side edges of the sheet. The fold line subdivides the sheet into two sections which are usually of equal size. The two sections of the sheet are each generally on the order of eleven inches by five inches. When stacked, the sections of each paper towel are superposed and adapted to receive therebetween one section from each of the two adjacent towels. The fold lines of the two adjacent paper towels are opposed to the fold line of the first towel. Further, the two adjacent towels will each receive one section of the first towel between their overlapping sections.
One form of multifold paper towel is interfolded in a stack much like a single fold paper towel. These towels include a plurality of fold lines to define a multiple of overlapping sections arranged in an accordion style. In a stack, one section of each paper towel is received between a pair of sections of each adjacent paper towel. Another form of multifold paper towel is the C-fold paper towel. A C-fold paper towel is formed from a single sheet and folded to have a generally C-shaped configuration. While the towels are stacked for dispensing, they are not interfolded together.
A stack of paper towels is generally dispensed from an enclosed bin provided with an elongate opening along its bottom surface. One section of the bottommost paper towel protrudes from the opening to be grasped and dispensed by a user. In an interfolded stack, pulling a paper towel from the bin will cause the lower section of the next paper towel to protrude from the opening. In a stack of C-fold towels, a flap of the next towel is exposed for grasping after the bottommost towel is removed. However, in either case, multiple towels are occasionally dispensed when the bottommost towel is pulled out of the opening. The risk of dispensing multiple towels is particularly acute when the stack is low, and less weight and friction are available to hold the remaining towels in the bin.
Interfolded paper towels may also be dispensed from an opening in the top of an enclosed box. In essentially the same way, pulling the uppermost paper towel out of the box causes one section of the next paper towel to protrude from the opening. However, as the stack becomes smaller, a larger and larger gap is formed between the opening and the top of the stack. A plastic element is often used in an effort to prevent the adjacent paper towels from becoming disconnected. Nevertheless, disconnection does frequently occur to disrupt the dispensing process. When this happens, the user must reach through the opening and pull the next paper towel from the box.
Finally, many dispensers are susceptible to people purposefully removing an excessive number of paper towels, and thereby causing waste and loss for the owner. One such dispenser is formed as a box with an open front such that the front paper towel is held along its peripheral edge. The stack is oriented horizontally and spring biased forwardly toward the opening. With this construction, a user can push a finger into the dispenser, against the bias of the spring, and pull out a bunch of the paper towels.